Programming readers

“Language is software for the mind.” — David McNally

Last night, I had the privilege of hearing David McNally—speaker and author of the best-selling book Even Eagles Need a Push—speak about personal branding, and he made that comment to us. It wasn’t a major point of his talk; it was almost an aside, a little throw-away line to help clarify something else he was saying. But it really struck me.

Language is software for the mind.

Years ago, someone helped demystify computer software for me by saying that it is really nothing more than a set of instructions and data that the computer uses to achieve a desired end.

A few years later, I heard a speaker at a Society for Technical Communication conference say that, just like programmers write code for machines, technical writers write code for users. That is, writers who write user’s guides and online help systems provide the instructions and data that users need to achieve a desired goal.

That idea made perfect sense to me at the time, but I never consciously expanded it beyond the realm of technical writing. Not until last night.

Language is software for the mind.

The words you use, either written or spoken, can have powerful effects on your audience—if you use them carefully and skillfully. Whether your goal is to inform, to persuade, to call for action, or to entertain, your words and your stories can be powerful. They can be powerful, because language is software for the mind.

Learning how to write that software well is well worth the effort. 

Comments

[--Deb]

I love this post (not least of all because I just posted today about how words are building blocks) It's something that's so fundamental and yet overlooked. People get so caught up in all the "technique" that they forget that ultimately, writing is about using language.

[H Devaraja Rao]

Yes, language is software for the mind. Keep the software free from viruses -- wordiness, abstraction, passive voice and the like.

[Roy Jacobsen]

Deb,
I like what you're saying: While it's important to have a good grasp on good technique, there's an equal part of art, of the organic, non-linear, intuitive, and emotion bits that are embedded in language.

Rao,
Are those things viruses, or bugs and "spaghetti code?" Viruses are injected in from outside sources, whereas the bugs and bad code come by inattention and sloppiness on the part of the programmer.

Thanks to you both for stopping by and joining the conversation!